Elisabeth Sladen RIP

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It is with immense sadness, and great great shock, that we have to report the death today of Elisabeth Sladen, an actress who will always have a special place in our hearts for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in the Doctor Who universe. She was only 63.

Born in 1948, she first joined Doctor Who during the Jon Pertwee era and stayed on to accompany Tom Baker through one of the series’ golden eras.

She left the series in the mid ’70s, but made a return to the role for the one-off K9 and Company . She then made guest appearances in “The Five Doctors” and the new series’ “School Reunion” before Russell T Davies created The Sarah Jane Adventures especially for her. A fifth series was due to air later this year, and was part way through production. It is a tragedy that it will now never be completed.

Everyone on SFX is in deep, deep shock. Many of us had met Lis over the years and she was always charming, funny, generous and, simply, a completely lovely person. Our sincere condolences to her family and friends.